Hydrology of the Palo Duro Basin, Texas Panhandle

The heterogeneous aquifer/aquitard system observed in the Palo Duro and Dalhart Basins is the outcome of prolonged cycles of various sedimentation styles. The sedimentary sequence is effectively partitioned into deep and shallow flow systems. The relatively permeable formations are vertically segregated by a thick interval of Middle- and Upper Permian evaporites and fine-grained red beds, which serve as an aquitard, restricting water flow. Following the frameworks developed by Maxey (1964) and Toth (1978), Bassett and Bentley (in press) identified several hydrogeologic elements in the Palo Duro Basin. These elements are categorized based on their relative water-conducting or water-retarding characteristics, such as the Ogallala Aquifer or Evaporite Aquitard. In instances where a hydrogeologic element consists of both permeable lithology and mudstone interbeds, the designation of aquifer/aquitard is determined by the properties of the more permeable strata. Hydrogeologic units are assemblies of vertically adjacent strata sharing similar hydraulic properties, although they may have different primary lithologies. Each hydrogeologic unit comprises one or more hydrogeologic elements. In the Palo Duro Basin, Bassett and Bentley identified five hydrogeologic units: (1) Basement Aquiclude, (2) Deep-Basin Brine Aquifer, (3) Basin Shale Aquitard, (4) Evaporite Aquitard, and (5) Upper Aquifer. The permeabilities listed in Table 1 and shown in Figure 1 represent typical values obtained from literature sources or determined through drill-stem tests analysis.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Production Potential of Unrecovered Mobile Oil Through Infield Development: Integrated Geologic and Engineering Studies Overview

This report is part of a coordinated series of research efforts designed to prepare preliminary evaluations of important components of the domestic unrecovered oil resource. The specific resource of interest is the oil that is displacable by water and remains in the Nation's reservoirs after conventional production. Integrated geologic, engineering, and economic evaluations in this series estimate future reserve additions from this unrecovered mobile oil (UMO) resource under various circumstances. The individual studies (Volumes 2 through 5) consider the effects of changes in oil prices and advances in production technology on the economic recovery potential of the UMO resource. This report (Volume 1) discusses and compares the approaches and results of the individual studies. Several recovery technologies are evaluated, including the use of waterflooding in conjunction with infill drilling to displace and produce UMO at decreased well spacings. The overall analysis series was conducted in two separate, but coordinated, parts: at a detailed reservoir level and at a generalized regional level. At the reservoir level, detailed analyses of three individual Texas reservoirs fully delineated the resource and the potential for UMO recovery in each reservoir under a variety of development situations. Results of the individual reservoir evaluations were extrapolated to groups of reservoirs with common depositional histories, collectively known as "plays". At the regional level, reservoirs in three major oil producing states, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, were analyzed to determine the resource volume, potential recovery, and the costs and benefits associated with this recovery both in the individual states and for the region as a whole. This analysis relied on the geologic classification of individual reservoirs, specific rock and fluid properties, and production and development histories to quantify the resource and to assess its potential for UMO recovery potential. Coordination of the studies at two analytical levels proved advantageous -- the initial methods and results at both levels were compared in order to calibrate and to modify the final approach at each level and can now be used as a guide in future analyses. In addition to the specific results from the two analytical levels, several shorter issue and summary papers have also been prepared.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Contributions to geology

Accompanied by 2 fold-outs. Fig. 2 : Map showing localities from which the meteor was seen. Fig. 15 : Production curve of University Deep Well, Texon Oil and Land Company No. 1-B, Reagan County, Texas, from December 1, 1928, to July 31, 1929. Depositional history of the red beds and saline residues of the Texas Permian / C.L. Baker -- Note on the Permian Chinati series of west Texas / C.L. Baker -- The Texas meteor of June 23, 1928 / E.H. Sellards -- The Paleozoic of the Pedernales Valley in Gillespie and Blanco Counties, Texas / R.A. Jones -- Pratt well in Webb County / R.A. Jones -- Pennsylvania ostracoda from Menard County, Texas / B. H. Harlton -- A Yegua-Eocene delta in Brazos County, Texas / L.C. Reed and O.M. Longnecker -- The University deep well in Reagan County, Texas / E.H. Sellards and W. Williams -- Some upper Cretaceous Taylor ammonites from Texas / W.S. Adkins. University of Texas bulletin ; no. 2901 : Jan. 1, 1929UT Librarie

Contributions to Geology, 1944

"Contributions to Geology," including shorter papers, have been issued by the Bureau of Economic Geology since 1928. Each volume of the "Contributions" bears a bulletin number and is thus a part of The University of Texas series. The volumes issued in this "Contributions" series are University of Texas Bulletins 2801, 2901, 3001, 3101, 3201, 3501; University of Texas Publication 3945; and the present volume, University of Texas Publication 4401. The papers of this volume of "Contributions" include two papers on stratigraphic subjects and selected studies of fossil groups as follows: graptolites from the Cambrian, corals from the Carboniferous, Foraminifera from the Upper Carboniferous, vertebrates from the Triassic, crustaceans from the Cretaceous, and vertebrates from the Pliocene. This volume of "Contributions" was planned by Dr. E. H. Sellards who selected the papersand arranged for publication. The volume constitutes avaluable contribution to the geology of Texas and will be useful in many problems of economic geology.UT Librarie

Environmental geologic atlas of the Texas coastal zone : Port Lavaca area

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Environmental geologic atlas of the Texas coastal zone : Brownsville-Harlingen area

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Land and Water Resources, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas

This report and the accompanying hand-colored maps (Land and Water Resources, Cameron and Willacy Counties, Texas; Land and Water Resources, Hidalgo County, Texas; and Land Use, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas) were prepared initially by the Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, as part of a multidisciplinary study of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The following text is only a portion of the initial report on this study and has been extracted to describe units on the accompanying maps.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Combining Multicomponent Seismic Attributes, New Rock Physics Models, and In Situ Data to Estimate Gas-Hydrate Concentrations in Deep-Water, Near-Seafloor Strata of the Gulf of Mexico

The Bureau of Economic Geology was contracted to develop technologies that demonstrate the value of multicomponent seismic technology for evaluating deep-water hydrates across the Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico. This report describes the methodologies that were developed to create compressional (P-P) and converted-shear (P-SV) images of near-seafloor geology from four-component ocean-bottom-cable (4C OBC) seismic data and the procedures used to integrate P-P and P-SV seismic attributes with borehole calibration data to estimate hydrate concentration across two study areas spanning 16 and 25 lease blocks (or 144 and 225 square miles), respectively. Approximately 200 km of two-dimensional 4C OBC profiles were processed and analyzed over the course of the 3-year project. The strategies we developed to image near-seafloor geology with 4C OBC data are unique, and the paper describing our methodology was peer-recognized with a Best Paper Award by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists in the first year of the project (2006). Among the valuable research findings demonstrated in this report, the demonstrated ability to image deep-water near-seafloor geology with sub-meter resolution using a standard-frequency (10-200 Hz) air gun array on the sea surface and 4C sensors on the seafloor has been the accomplishment that has received the most accolades from professional peers. Our study found that hydrate is pervasive across the two study areas that were analyzed but exists at low concentrations. Although our joint inversion technique showed that in some limited areas, and in some geologic units across those small areas, hydrates occupied up to 40-percent of the sediment pore space, we found that when hydrate was present, hydrate concentration tended to occupy only 10-percent to 20-percent of the pore volume. We also found that hydrate concentration tended to be greater near the base of the hydrate stability zone than it was within the central part of the stability zone

Contributions to Geology, 1939

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